Name of Merchant: Cosplaywig
Website: http://stores.ebay.com/COSPLAY-WIG
Item purchased (please include quantity): Rin Kagamine, Len Kagamine, Miku Hatsune, Kaito wig.
Links to picture(s) of your received item: http://www.cosplay.com/gallery/178424/
Timeline (how long your order took to process): Ordered March 19, Received April 2nd.
Describe your Experience. Pros, Cons, Comments: Great communication, a bit slow on sending out the wigs, took five days after purchase for them to ship it. They always answered my emails quickly. The wig fiber is amazing, it is heat resistant and feels just like real hair. I love it and will deffinately purchase from them again!
Final Grade: A++

The site is a pain and a half to navigate. It's not user-friendly at all!! But the ordering system is fairly straightforward and the item I ordered was shipped the same day I sent the bank transfer to pay for it (it arrived 2 days later).

All items arrived as-described, fit well and look great. Photos are quite representative of actual colors. My only regret is that 5000 for one pair of contacts is a bit steep and a majority of the 700 yen shipping cost seems to have gone toward loading the package with more catalogs, flyers and junk mail than any human mind could possibly process. Essentially, you're paying them to advertise to you.

The order was shipped along with two free gifts ~ a cute contact case and a bottle of free contact solution.

007 Contacts only ships within Japan but you may be able to order their products through finders' services or overseas-auction handlers for a commission fee.

Name of Merchant COSFACTORYWebsitehttp://cosfactory.cart.fc2.com/Item purchased Kagamine Len costume L-size, Kagamine Rin costume M-sizePhotos:in action (after fixes, the original headphones have no microphones and are much more overstuffed, leg-warmers have been pinned up)Timeline two weeks (within Japan)

CosFactory is a Chinese mass-manufacturer who operates in Japan through a Japanese contact. In spite of the site being in Japanese and the funds going to a Japanese bank account ~ the costumes are shipped from China and the Japanese/English in mails can be a wee bit garbled. Even so, the experience was mostly a positive one. They also sell costumes through yahoo.co.jp auctions, so you may run into them there.

Pros: The costumes are, for the most part well-made and the price is pretty much unbeatable for a complete costume set. The stitches are tight, the pieces are all finished and there aren't any loose threads even after wearing them 6 or 7 times in a variety of bars, schools, beaches, and event halls. They're sturdy and they look nice. They fit well-enough for pre-made costumes and (rare for a Japanese cosplay site) they offer an XL size.

Shipping was reasonably fast for an international package, arriving in about 2 weeks. The costumes arrived well-folded, unstained and reasonably packaged. Coloring is, for the most part spot-on (though Rin's shorts are the wrong color - black instead of dark grey). Mechanical details and trims are in vinyl and look great. The text on the leggings is also accurate to the character designs. The fit is also a bit baggy (especially on Len's) which, in his case, is exactly how it ought to be. The volume in the leggings and armwarmers is more substantial than in most of the other VOCALOID costumes I've seen ~ which makes them look a bit more accurate in sillouette.

Cons: We recieved the wrong size for Rin's costume (we got an L instead of an M) and had to take it in. Contacting the company about the error led them to give us a story about the wrong sizing tags being used in the costume and assuring us that they were the right size... we checked the measurements... they weren't right. The leg-warmers are also humongous and need to be pinned up/altered quite a lot to wear. It seems they aren't sized along with the costumes but made one-size-fits-all-jolly-green-giants.

There was also quite a lot in the way of cheap/reused materials being passed off as new ones. The inside of buttons are corroded away and seem to be tens of years old, pulled off of discarded clothing to reuse in new costumes. Some of the paint was chipping off of the rusted buttons to show the damage underneath.

But the worst part by far was the headphones ~ not only are they ugly as sin -- when I tried to take the stuffing out of them to de-poof them a bit, I found out they were stuffed with dryer lint from freshly-treated wool instead of clean fill. I ended up visiting the hospital with symptoms of formaldahyde poisoning 2 hours later.

Do not open plush pieces from them! It can make you sick!

Overall: In the end, after some repair-work, fitting and replacement of the noxious dryer-lint fill with clean fill ~ the costumes were good to us. We've gotten more than our money's worth. That said, I'd recommend looking at all of your other options too before getting a costume here as they aren't exactly honest about their goods in how their presentation.

Timeline : 3 months in advance is what she asked for. I ordered in Nov 09, got the item in March 10(item supposedly due), with total of 4 months.
Describe your Experience. Pros :
1.Nice communication. A sweet girl to talk to, though till the end, she's getting harsh.
2.I love the color of the dress, it's pretty...
3.I love the corset, though, not properly lined.
4.I love the color of the shoe, even though the color is off.
5.She gave me 25% discount for this dress, and 25% discount for my following order (which obviously I won't be commissioning from her again. NEVER)
6.lovely fabrics...Cons :
1.UGLY stitches.. ugly finishing. DOESN'T look like a $615 dress at all.
2.I was asking for 3 layers of ruffles.. but what do I get? Nothing..
3.As you can see in the pictures, the dress is not done properly. The lines/stitches are not straight, is that done by hand or machine? Either way, no commissioners should make this mistake!
4.Inner part of the dress.... I actually do not dare to even look inside of it.. after lookin outer part of the dress....
5.the inner part of the dress, is like a P.O.C (piece of crap), you can see, threads everywhere (even you can see it outside, but it gets worse inside)
6.oh, right, she did say, the dress will be EMBROIDERed with her OWN hands.. but in the end, I got, HOT GLUE GUN with pearls! I know how to do that!!! I don't even need her help in this if she does it like that and charged me $615 for it!
7.Spider webs everywhere (hot glue gun webs) on the dress... could you imagine your $600 dress with spider webs?
8.Horrible horrible stitches, I can't seem to stress that enough.
9.The inner part of the dress is a total disaster..
10.The thread on the dress, stops right in the middle...
11.the connection of the velvet and the dress is also a total disaster! That is the worst work I have ever seen, well unless that person is not a well trained commissioner. I think she did say she is a well trained commissioner...
12.she said she'll be sending a instruction? I have no idea where that goes..
13.I have no idea how that petticoat works.. It looks to that the “petticoat” she brought are window blinds......... white.
14.missing Leggings. Told her about it, but she never reply me anymore. Mayb I could make a dispute on items not received??? :/
15.Those areas that are not good/ with ugly stitches (though the part where the dress and the velvet joined aren't), could be covered with corset. But!!!!! would you, the commissioners, do that when you make a dress? What if I dont want to wear the corset??
16.I have no idea how that dress works out.. It seems our agreement are totally different. She doesn't seem to follow what I needed. I have told her many times that I need 3 layers of ruffles, but she give me nothing.
17.Scalloped shaped dress at the bottom? NONE!!!
18. corset is nice, BUT there's something missing.... no LACING in front. oh, she told me it would look fake with it so she took it off (Without asking me? though she apologizes for not asking for my opinion before she does anything.)

Comments : I have given her 5 full months, and she is LATE in sending in the costumes. I started paying her on 9th November 2009, My deadline is 15th March, I got the costume on 30th March. My con is 2nd April. The dress is OBVIOUSLY done in a rush as well. I asked if she needed more time, she said, it's coming along fine. BUT it's not. The progress pictures I have been asking for since Nov, is not sent to me on time. She told me she doesn't have cable so she could not show me the pictures. So around, 27th March, she showed me at last, the pictures I have posted above, the ones she gave me, the BIG picture. I saw it, I obviously loved it of course! It was gorgeous! BUT!!!!!! look at her work!! It's untidy and not neat at all! I DO NOT recommend commissioner like her. It's obvious she overcharged her customer and giving RUSH orders work when 4 full months are given to her. And, be aware that she shows you big picture instead of the details. The details are totally HORRIBLE!!!!! I can't accept it as a buyer. No one would used $600 to get a dress like that!!

I have not even tried on it yet, because I am afraid of MORE ugly outcomes... and, I can't seem to make myself accept that "ugly" dress for $615 (oh 25% discount for me, because she sent the costume late to me.)

She doesn't reply me anymore since she take me as “spammer”. She was MIA for 3 full months. I kept sending her msg but there is no reply. I obviously turn to Paypal to file a claim. When she got back to me, I closed the dispute. Which buyer, in their consience, would not be nervous and restless when they don't get to be in touch with their commissioner that has their $600 in the commisioners' hand and not replying in 3 months? She doesn't even email me to update me her progress, in which, actually what a commissioner should do. Which buyer aren't nervous about the final products when it's way past the deadline? She doesn't reply me anymore and I can't work it out with her, so I am reviewing her dress here in cosplay.com.
If you don't mind being commissioned by her which charged overprice to customers and giving rush order works, by all means, go for it.

I can't get any refunds.. not from paypal because I received the item and the payment is made and the item I got is after 45 days..
is there anyway for me to get 1/2 of it back?
i'm willing to pay for the materials.... but I AM NOT WILLING TO PAY FOR THE LABOR! overcharged and ugly horrible..
so please... anyone can help me with this?

I can't believe she told me the order is made in January....
I paid in Nov and Dec, and the order is made in January?

She doesn't even wanna talk to me now, it's hard to talk to her over the email when she doesn't reply.
Final Grade: F + (+ for lovely fabrics and nice communication in the beginning but get worse at the end.)
Do NOT approach this commissioner under any circumstances.
Lesson learned, do not approach any commissioners with no/little feedbacks. I kinda know/ understand why, even though she took in many commissions, that no one would wan to review her. A bad luck to me. I dont want it to happen to other ppl.
I warn you people, she is not a professional. AT ALL. so you're being overcharged.
the dress is a DISASTER.. T_T

Experience: I absolutely love Angie Rikku. I needed a rush commission for this wristband. I was afraid that it being a rush commission, the quality wouldn't be very good, but boy was I wrong! I figured I would just receive a plain black wristband, but what I got was a fully leather surged wristband with all of the "triangle" details meticulously sewed on. She even put wire inside to give the wrist that coil effect. I could not believe the quality of the product with such a short time frame and reasonable price! Will definitely commission from again!

Commissioner: Angie RikkuWebsite:http://www.cosplay.com/member/980/Item Commissioned: a pair of basic seafoam pantsTimeline: a few weeksPhotos: They're actually undergarments in the costume, so I have no photos of them showing.

Pros: Was very helpful in finding fabric for a pair of pants I needed quickly and was even kind enough to offer to make them straight out as I was panicking over an upcoming event deadline. I got the pants quickly after no less than 2 dozen very sweet emails discussing our trade, progress and shipment. She was kind enough to include enough extra fabric to make a 2nd pair of pants!! Pants were well-made and were very accurate in the cuffs (the only place they show).

Cons: The color is ever so slightly lighter than I'd envisioned but given the trouble finding even a remotely close match in my own area ~ it's really only the most trifle of complaints. They're also a bit big ~ though I suspect most of that may is on account of my losing 8 pounds over the course of the trade ^^;;;;

Describe your Experience. Pros, Cons, Comments
Well, this was my first time buying a cosplay costume at all, so I was not really sure how long it would take to get the costume, or exactly what I was getting myself into. I had no idea there were commissioners elsewhere on the internet, so the first place I checked was Ebay, and found that the best costume I could find in both quality and price came from honestdragonchina. I didn't have Paypal then, and I still do not have Paypal, but honestdragonchina was willing to work with me anyway and allowed me to wire transfer the money instead. Just the fact that a seller who said she accepted only Paypal was willing to go through such a tedious process for a customer was a good sign to me ^^ About two weeks after I sent the money and my measurements, I got an email from the seller saying that my costume would arrive within three weeks. About a week later, I found it on my doorstep. The quality was amazing, even better than I had expected from the pictures of the item, and it fit really well. Not to mention how fast the shipping was ^^ the only real "con" I could point out is the exceptionally high shipping rate. the costume was about $75, and with shipping, it came to $123, so thats.... about $48 in shipping. the costume was definitely worth the money, but the fact that it was all for shipping costs made me think that perhaps the seller was trying to make a profit on shipping. whatever the reason, the costume was still fantastic ^^

Describe your Experience. Pros, Cons, Comments
Overall this was a pleasant transaction, but unfortunately it had a few little quirks along the way. To start off, the price of the costume was a little high, but the shipping price was pretty low, and since the company is based in America i figured it wouldnt take too long to arrive, since i only had about a month as a deadline. my first problem was the size chart. i have pretty small proportions (bust of 32 in, waist of 25.5 in, and hip of 33 in), and the smallest size they had was bust of 33, waist of 27, and hip of 36.5. these were the minimum, and unfortunately this site only does chart based measurements (what i found hysterical was that under all of the costumes in the cosplay section, there is a little box that says "CUSTOM", though this is clearly not the case once it comes time for measurements) so i ordered the smallest size they had. i was told it would come in about two weeks, so i patiently waited. when the two weeks had passed, i used the tracking number they had given me and discovered that my package was still halfway across the country, and it was estimated to arrive within the next week. this was no problem for me since my deadline was still well over a week away, but it wouldnt leave me much time to get it tailored, which i knew i would have to do. the real kicker was when the costume finally made it to my state. apparently, moon costumes gave the mail service specific instructions that, if i was not home, to take it back to their storage warehouse and if i did not pick it up within 48 hours, they would ship it back to the factory and i would have to pay to have it reshipped. now, no one told me this ahead of time, i had to find out through a note left to me by the mail carrier! so after already having to wait the extra week for it to get here, now i had to save it from being returned! i drove about an hour to the warehouse to pick it up, and after all that, it was HUGE on me. i knew it was going to be a little loose and i would have to get it taken in, but this costume was flat out HUGE. after having it taken in twice, it finally looked like it was made for someone my size.

Final Grade:
B+
while the costume itself was beautiful, their policy on sizing was kind of tedious, and whatever they tried to pull with the delivery thing was just plain odd!

Describe your Experience. Pros, Cons, Comments
this was a quick, uneventful purchase XD. i asked for a custom size, they said no problem. i told them i couldnt use paypal and had to use a credit card instead, they said no problem. i said i needed it within 4 weeks, they said they could do it in 3. they answered my emails within hours of me sending them, and were akways nice when they replied. the costume is a little inaccurate with the shirt and vest, but overall it is of very nice quality and i always get compliments on it ^^!

Name of Commissioner: cosplaymandy
Website/C.com gallery: http://s530.photobucket.com/albums/dd347/cosplaymandy/
Character commissioned and series/video game: Ventus from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Links to picture(s) of your commissioned item: http://img411.imageshack.us/i/fwav.jpg/
Timeline: A little under 4 months
Pros: The costume itself is amazing! Both the jacket and the waistcoat are lined. The fabric is of very high quality. The straps and the black squares on the wristband are both made out of a nice leather. And the whole thing fits like a glove.
Cons: The only real problem I have is that it got here the day AFTER Sakura Con ended.
Final Grade: B+ (only because it didn't arrive in time for the Con)

Character commissioned and series/video game
Paine from FFX-@2, full costume with accessories

Links to picture(s) of your commissioned item
i will have a photo this weekend

Timeline
March 23 2009--April 6 2009

Describe your Experience. Pros, Cons, Comments
Well first off, i would like to point out that pretty much no one sells Paine costumes on Ebay, so i had a choice between only about 5 different costumes. that being said, it was a relatively quick choice. i didn't have a lot of time because i had a con coming up a few weeks and one in june, so i needed the costume relatively quickly. i had never actually heard of languifangoo before, but the pictures of this cosplay on her page looked better than ones i had seen for over $200, and hers was only about $140 without shipping. With shipping, it came to a little under $180. Now, as i've mentioned before, i still did not have paypal, and unfortunately this was the only payment method she could accept, so i actually bought it through a friend's ebay account, which turned out to be a little bit of a strange situation but it wasnt a huge deal ^^. anyway, after i sent the payment, i sent the measurements, but the next day i realized i had sent in a hip measurement that was an inch or two too small, so i immediately sent in a new set of measurements. i thought it might have been too late, but she sent me back an email about two days later saying it was no trouble, and that, if i needed, she would throw in a wig for free. i don't commission much, but im pretty sure sellers don't just throw in wigs for the hell of it that often XD. so i soon got a tracking number, and it arrived at my friend's house within five days (again, i used my friend's ebay account, so obviously it went to the address on her paypal account too ^^). i tried it on, and everything fit better than i expected. the construction of the costume made it look amazingly authentic, yet it was easy to get into and out of. the wig that came with it, which i was expecting to be just a plain silver wig, looked absolutely stunning and was closer to what Paine's hair would actually look like than wigs i've seen for over $300. the only thing that annoyed me a bit was that it didn't come with the bra underneath, which i thought it would, but i can get one of those anywhere for like 10 bucks or less so really it was not an issue. i just got the costume yesterday so i have yet to really put it to the test, but i wore it for a few hours and it was quite comfortable, even the choker and the many belts, so i assume it will hold up pretty well in the future.

Final Grade
A+
I would most definitely order from this seller again ^^

Actually, StHoly, we have response to this that with the thread master's permission (that I have requested) will be posted alongside your review. You are not being forthright entirely and withholding vital information of the remedies we offered for your concerns (which totaled over the value you originally paid). If clients are going to think ill of CNC we deserve our say against the slander. Once permission is received we will be editing this post.

Comments : I ordered the whole set , including the accesoires and all I get is the skirt, the white top , the obi, the bra, the bow and the shoes! I did not dare to wear it to the con because I know people would laugh with me, it looks like some item bought off ebay! she offered me a discount on the next order because she made a mistake and painted it. But who wants to buy another piece of crap like this ?? It doesn't look like the real thing and it's not the money worth.

She offered me to sell the costume for less money and make a new one for an extra fee, does she thinks that i will pay a big amount of money and wait months again , um , i don't think so..

She is not a proffessional commisioner, like the lines are not straight done. I think she should take less commisions and focus on her work instead of taking massive commissions and do only half work !

When i looked at her profile I really thought my cosplay was going to be awesome like her's but no, you can tell the difference between her personal work and the work she makes for others, too bad.

Pros:
1. She refund me for the items I did not receive and refund me for the items i asked to be embroided while she did paint ( I still had to pay the standard for the painted one).
2. She excused herself a lot of times to say that she's sorry I don't like it and offered I can sell it.
3. I think she has the capacity to make good costumes because she says it herself it's not her best cosplay she has made.

Final Grade: D

Last edited by PrincessGal : 04-17-2010 at 05:05 PM.
Reason: Added more pros